WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.24.18: what's new?

WhatsApp has released a new Android update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.25.24.18.
What's new in this update? WhatsApp is working on a feature that allows users to choose short timers for disappearing messages, and it will be available in a future update!

In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.22.22 update, we announced that a feature that lets users personalize their status with disappearing settings is available. This feature introduces flexible timers for the "About" section, allowing users to set their profile note or activity to automatically expire after a chosen duration. With options ranging from 30 minutes to 1 day, as well as a custom timer of up to 1 month, users can keep their profiles fresh, relevant, and aligned with their current mood or activities. Expiring statuses also appear prominently in conversations, helping contacts quickly understand the user's availability or context without leaving outdated details behind. It appears that WhatsApp is further expanding its focus on expiring options, aiming to improve the overall communication experience through new refinements to disappearing messages. Following the release of the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.24.18 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is working on a feature that allows users to choose short timers for disappearing messages!

As you can see from the attached screenshot, WhatsApp is exploring the implementation of a feature that will introduce additional expiration choices to disappearing messages, scheduled for release in a future update. Currently, disappearing messages supports options including 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. With an upcoming update, WhatsApp is planning to expand the set of expiration options by allowing users to select between 1 hour and 12 hours, offering a greater degree of flexibility for short-lived conversations.

The 1-hour option is marked as a short timer and it is intended for very specific situations where users want their messages to disappear almost immediately after being sent. This can be helpful when sharing sensitive information that does not need to remain available for long, but it also involves a certain risk with a certain risk, as the countdown starts as soon as the message is delivered, not when it is opened. If the recipient does not check the conversation in time, there is a real possibility that the message will vanish before it is ever read, which could negatively affect the communication flow. For this reason, WhatsApp will actively remind users of the potential drawback each time they choose the 1-hour option, ensuring that they are fully aware that it should be used cautiously and only in contexts where the recipient is expected to see the message quickly.

By contrast, the 12-hour option strikes a balance between convenience and privacy, giving messages enough time to reach their audience and be read during the day, while still ensuring that the content does not remain in the chat indefinitely. This makes it ideal for scenarios such as event planning, coordinating short-term tasks, or sharing details that are only relevant for part of a day. The addition of these new timers will significantly enrich the user experience, as they allow people to choose the most appropriate duration based on the context of their conversation.

While the 1-hour option emphasizes immediacy and confidentiality, the 12-hour timer offers practicality and reliability, demonstrating how WhatsApp is continuing to refine disappearing messages to adapt to different communication needs. It is also possible that WhatsApp may expand the set of expiration options even further in a future update, giving users an even wider range of choices. Additional timers could help address more specific scenarios, such as shorter exchanges that require less minutes of visibility or mid-range durations that strike a balance between the immediacy of 1 hour and the practicality of 12 hours, although this remains speculative for now.

A feature that allows users to choose short timers for disappearing messages is under development and it will be available in a future update. We will keep you updated with an additional article as soon as we have more details to share about this feature.

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